April is on track to set a new record for monthly production in Western Canada with a majority of the growth coming from the British Columbia side of the unconventional Montney formation. With oil sands gas demand heading lower thanks to turnarounds, and muted demand in export markets, the end result has been record rates of gas storage injection in Alberta. Until weather warms up and gas burn and exports increase, look for continued strong storage injections and AECO prices that may have little incentive to move higher.
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- Blog
East Bound and Down - Western Canada Gas Storage Faces Very Low Starting Point for Next Winter
Canadian gas storage levels concluded the most recent heating season at multi-year lows, especially in the western half of the nation, which hit a 16-year low at the end of March. Though storage sites have been refilling at a steady rate so far this summer, storage in the west, a region vitally important for balancing the North American gas market during high winter demand, remains unusually low for this time of year. In today’s RBN blog, we examine the latest developments in Canadian natural gas storage and explain why storage levels in Western Canada may start the next heating season at critically low levels.
- Blog
Don't Be Afraid, Part 2 - AECO Gas Forwards Mostly Shaking Off Low Alberta Storage
With another month of anemic storage injections in September, Alberta natural gas storage levels remain on track to start the next heating season at a 13-year low. Still, while Alberta gas storage has been lagging well behind in terms of average injection rates and storage levels for many months now, forward winter contract prices for the Western Canadian gas price benchmark of AECO have budged only a little. There is potential for an improvement in storage injection rates during October after a recent regulatory approval affecting the Alberta gas pipeline system, but there is little time remaining in the current injection season to make much of a difference in inventory levels going into winter. Today, we conclude this two-part series with a look at why the AECO forward market remains largely unconcerned with low Alberta gas storage levels.
- Blog
I Can't Help Myself - Why Western Canada's Natural Gas Production Has Been Hitting Multi-Year Highs
With natural gas prices reaching levels not seen in seven years, Western Canada is doing all it can to help increase gas supply, with recent data showing monthly production hitting multi-year highs. Moreover, Canadian forward gas prices are at the highest levels since 2014, gas pipeline expansions are in place or being constructed to accommodate future supply expansion, and gas-focused drilling activity remains strong — all of which may as well be a prescription for sending gas production to record levels later this year and in 2022. In today’s RBN blog, we provide an update on the recent gas production growth in Alberta and neighboring provinces and why more growth is coming.
